Wednesday, February 29, 2012

During the nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan's northeast last March, the world watched in horror as conditions in the plant deteriorated by the day. Despite public reassurances that the situation was under contra, we now know that three of the plant's reactors actually begun meltdown within hours and that plans were being made at the highest levels of the Japanese government to evacuate Tokyo, the world's most populous metropolitan area.

In effect, the world was given a crash course in cascading nuclear failure.

What many do not know is that the damaged reactors were designed by General Electric, rely on 40-year-old containment technology, and are substantially similar to 32 reactors currently operating around the world, including 23 in the United States.

This is our EyeOpener Report by James Corbett, presenting you with the history of and GE’s role in development of boiling water reactors and the Mark 1 containment vessel system used in the damaged Fukushima reactor which has been focus of fierce criticism for at least 40 years, and the criminal complicity of government regulators in failing to enforce their own policies and regulations on these aging reactors, not only in Japan, but in the US as well.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

nearly 4,500 warheads are considered operational, of which nearly 2,000 U.S. and Russian warheads are on high alert, ready for use on short notice

The US Air Force is at it again. Back in September 2011, thousands of you wrote to President Obama asking him to cancel the test launch of a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile on the International Day of Peace. That test was canceled. Now, the Air Force has scheduled another Minuteman test for this Thursday, March 1, which is the 58th anniversary of the Castle Bravo nuclear test. The missile will target the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

UPDATE 2/29/12: More than 7,000 NAPF Action Alert Network members like you sent messages to President Obama demanding the cancellation of tomorrow's nuclear missile test on the 58th anniversary of the largest-ever US atmospheric nuclear test, Castle Bravo. The Air Force has now announced that the missile test will not occur tomorrow!

As you might suspect, the military is not crediting activist pressure for the cancellation of the launch; rather, they cite technical reasons.

This is the second time in less than six months that the Air Force has canceled a nuclear missile test after pressure from NAPF Action Alert Network members. The first time was on September 21, 2011, when they had scheduled a test on the International Day of Peace.

This is certainly a small victory, but there remains much more to be done. The United States keeps 450 Minuteman III missiles, which carry nuclear warheads, on high-alert status, ready to be fired within moments of an order. These are first-strike weapons and should be removed from the US arsenal immediately.

We will not rest until the world achieves a Nuclear Weapons Convention for the phased, verifiable, irreversible and transparent elimination of all nuclear weapons. We hope that you will continue to support the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in pursuing this essential goal.

Castle Bravo was the largest atmospheric nuclear test ever performed by the United States, with an explosive yield of 15 megatons – 1,000 times larger than the atomic bomb that devastated the city of Hiroshima. The Castle Bravo test is remembered for causing widespread contamination to many atolls in the Marshall Islands, the effects of which continue today. Fallout from this test also poisoned the Japanese fishing ship The Lucky Dragon, killing one crew member and sickening the others.

To conduct this test of a thermonuclear weapon delivery vehicle on the anniversary of the most devastating US thermonuclear weapon test is even more insulting to the people of the Marshall Islands than our other tests that target their lands. It is unconscionable that, six decades later, the US continues to use the Marshall Islands as its nuclear weapon testing grounds.

The United States keeps 450 Minuteman III missiles, which carry nuclear warheads, on high-alert status, ready to be fired within moments of an order. Since their development in the late 1960s, the US has test-fired this type of nuclear missile over 200 times.

Thursday’s test of a Minuteman III will be the second test in less than a week; the Air Force also fired a Minuteman missile from Vandenberg on Saturday, February 25. Please take a moment to write to President Obama today and ask him to cancel Thursday’s test on the anniversary of Castle Bravo and to take nuclear weapons off high-alert status in order to lower the possibilities of accidental or unauthorized missile launches.

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation initiates and supports worldwide efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, to strengthen international law and institutions, and to inspire and empower a new generation of peace leaders. Founded in 1982, the Foundation is comprised of individuals and organizations worldwide who realize the imperative for peace in the Nuclear Age. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan international education and advocacy organization. It has consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is recognized by the UN as a Peace Messenger Organization.

There is a dark history associated with the Bikini Atoll Test Site. Motivated by the cold war arms race and their need to find a secluded test location, the US descended upon the island and forced the inhabitants to relocate. During the Castle Bravo test a Japanese fishing boat was caught in the middle of the Nuclear Fallout, upon returning to Japan with signs of radiation sickness and the entire crew were diagnosed with acute radiation syndrome. One of the crew died shortly after from excessive radiation exposure, before passing away he was quoted as saying “I pray tha t I am the last victim of an atomic or hydrogen bomb.” The fisherman’s death spawned a huge anti-nuclear weapons movement in the country and is said to even inspire the movie “Godzilla”.

The detonation took place at 06:45 on March 1, 1954 local time (18:45 on February 28 GMT).[4]
When Bravo was detonated, it formed a fireball almost four and a half miles (roughly 7 km) across within a second. This fireball was visible on Kwajalein atoll over 250 miles (450 km) away. The explosion left a crater 6,500 feet (2,000 m) in diameter and 250 feet (75 m) in depth. The mushroom cloud reached a height of 47,000 feet (14 km) and a diameter of 7 miles (11 km) in about a minute; it then reached a height of 130,000 feet (40 km) and 62 miles (100 km) in diameter in less than 10 minutes and was expanding at more than 100 m/s (360 km/h, 224 mph). As a result of the blast, the cloud contaminated more than seven thousand square miles of the surrounding Pacific Ocean including some of the surrounding small islands like Rongerik, Rongelap and Utirik.[5]

The Bravo fallout plume spread dangerous levels of radiation over an area over 100 miles (160 km) long, including inhabited islands.

The fission reactions of the natural uranium tamper were quite dirty, producing a large amount of fallout. That, combined with the much-larger-than-expected yield and a major wind shift, produced a number of very serious consequences. In the de-classified film "Operation Castle", task force commander General Clarkson points to a diagram indicating that the wind shift was still in the range of "acceptable fallout", although just barely.

The decision to fire the Bravo bomb under the prevailing winds was made by Dr. Alvin C. Graves (1909–1966), the Scientific Director of Operation Castle. Dr. Graves had total authority over firing the weapon, above that of the military Commander of Operation Castle. Dr. Graves had himself received an exposure of 400 röntgens in the 1946 Los Alamos accident in which his personal friend, Dr. Louis Slotin, died from radiation exposure. Dr. Graves appears in the widely available film of the earlier 1952 test "Ivy Mike", which examines the last-minute fallout decisions. The narrator, Western actor Reed Hadley, is filmed aboard the control ship in that film, showing the final conference. Hadley points out that 20,000 people live in the potential area of the fallout. He asks the control panel scientist if the test can be aborted and is told "yes", but it would ruin all their preparations in setting up timed measuring instruments in the race against the Russians. In Mike the fallout correctly landed north of the inhabited area but, in the 1954 Bravo test, there was a lot of wind shear, and the wind that was blowing north the day before the test steadily veered towards the east.

Radioactive fallout was spread eastward onto the inhabited Rongelap and Rongerik atolls, which were tardily evacuated.[6] Subsequently many Marshall Islands natives suffered from birth defects and received compensation from the U.S. Federal government. A medical study, named Project 4.1, studied the effects of the fallout on the islanders.[7]

Although the atmospheric fallout plume drifted eastward, once fallout landed in the water it was carried in several directions by ocean currents, including northwest and southwest.[8]
A Japanese fishing boat, Daigo Fukuryu Maru, came in direct contact with the fallout, which caused many of the crew to grow ill; one eventually died. This resulted in an international uproar and reignited Japanese concerns about radiation, especially in regard that Japanese citizens were once more adversely affected by U.S. nuclear weapons. The official U.S. line had been that the growth in the strength of atomic bombs was not accompanied by an equivalent growth in radiation released. Japanese scientists who had collected data from the fishing vessel disagreed with this. Sir Joseph Rotblat, working at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, demonstrated that the contamination caused by the fallout from the test was far greater than that stated officially....

More than a decade and a half after the Cold War ended, the world's combined stockpile of nuclear warheads remain at a very high level: more than 22,000 - - of these, nearly 4,500 warheads are considered operational, of which nearly 2,000 U.S. and Russian warheads are on high alert, ready for use on short notice.

"Now, I am become Death,
the destroyer of worlds"

Julius Robert Oppenheimer (April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Along with Enrico Fermi,[2][3] he is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II project that developed the first nuclear weapons.[4] The first atomic bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945 in the Trinity test in New Mexico; Oppenheimer remarked later that it brought to mind words from the Bhagavad Gita: "Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." - J. Robert Oppenheimer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Friday, February 24, 2012

Robert Knoth and Antoinette de Jong visited the Fukushima region with Greenpeace in the autumn of 2011 to bear witness to the effects wrought on the region by the nuclear fallout from the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The shadow of radiation now looms over the people, the animals, and the environment of this area of Japan. Well-kept agricultural land is now becoming wild, children's play areas and petrol stations are contaminated and abandoned, and nature is taking back roads. Each photo captures the eerie beauty of a region left in limbo as radioactive fallout permeates all aspects of life.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Two years ago, the Department of Energy approved a conditional loan guarantee for new nuclear reactors in Georgia. Much has happened in those two years that make this conditional loan questionable at best, and more likely an $8 Billion+ loss to taxpayers. The DOE should rescind this loan now, before the losses pile up.

While the NRC has granted a construction/operating license to these reactors, several environmental groups have filed suit in federal court charging that the granting of this license was illegal. Clearly, taxpayer loans must not be granted before the outcome of this suit is known.

The conditional loan guarantee was granted under the presumption that the reactors would be built on time and on budget. Today, even before real construction has begun, these reactors are already behind schedule and over budget, according to the Georgia Public Service Commission's own watchdog. The original Vogtle reactors were 1200% over budget when completed! The potential for taxpayer losses that would dwarf the Solyndra debacle is extraordinarily high. After all, this loan would be 15 times larger than the Solyndra loan, and is probably 50 times riskier.

At the time the conditional loan was granted, there was a belief that there might be a nuclear power "renaissance" in the U.S. After Fukushima, that is clearly not happening. Even Standard & Poor's last week found the prospects of such a "renaissance" to be "faint." The Georgia reactors have not been required to meet post-Fukushima regulatory guidelines, and will not inspire construction of other new reactors. There is simply no justification to continue with these loans.

CCTV host Margaret Harrington interviews Maggie and Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Energy Education Corp regarding the triple meltdown in March 2011 at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. There were ample warnings that both TEPCO and Japan's regulators ignored steps that would have prevented this tragedy. Throughout the world, nuclear oversight has been compromised by the revolving door and cozy relationship between the nuclear industry and the so-called nuclear regulators who promote nuclear power rather than regulate.

Friday, February 17, 2012

A great article from Karl Grossman delineating the history of the Westinghouse AP1000 and how public input has been all but scuttled.

"Last week’s granting by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission of combined construction and operating licenses for two nuclear plants to be built in Georgia—both Westinghouse AP1000s—is the culmination of a scheme developed by nuclear promoters 20 years ago.

"If Americans are anxious about a disaster involving the AP1000—and want wind and solar and other safe, clean, renewable energy technologies which they can live with instead—well, under the new system, that’s too bad. With the new nuclear licensing system—devised 20 years ago and now moving ahead despite Chernobyl and Fukushima and the availability of energy alternatives that render nuclear power unnecessary—the citizenry and what they want are to be excluded." - Counterpunch

Summary of findings: Scientists have conducted preliminary qualitative screening of a few tissue samples from both healthy and sick pinnipeds (ice seals and walruses) involved in this UME for possible radionuclide exposure. No radiation levels were found in these samples that would directly cause the symptoms seen in the pinnipeds. Test results show radiation levels are within the typical background range for Alaska.

An international team of scientists continues to investigate the cause of the 2011 Northern Pinnipeds UME. This investigation includes a broad assessment of a number of potential contributing factors to the disease outbreak.

Because of the timing and scope of the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in Japan, radiation exposure is one of many factors being assessed.

• At this point, scientists do not believe that radiation is a primary factor in this UME or that radiation is causing the symptoms and deaths in pinnipeds.• Marine animals and fish close to the accident site in Japan were impacted, but there is no evidence that supports any impacts to marine animals in Alaska.• Scientists studied and considered the wind and ocean patterns in relation to the nuclear accident in Japan in their assessment. • The UME investigative team is committed to continued testing of samples from both sick and healthy pinnipeds to document current levels of radionuclides in these species.

Drs. John Kelley and Douglas Dasher, who are the leads for the UME radiation assessment, are working with the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences and College of Natural Science and Mathematics Engineering, Science and Technology Experiment Station on this investigation.

• Muscle tissues from sick and healthy pinnipeds will be measured for the presence of Cesium-134 (134Cs) and Cesium-137 (137Cs).

• Using the 134Cs/137Cs ratio from the Fukushima accident the amount of 137Cs contributed by Fukushima can be estimated.

• The results for each sample will go through quality assurance first and be provided to the UME working group followed by timely reporting to the public.

Any finding of radiation levels that exceed human food consumption guidelines would be immediately reported to the Alaska Public Health authorities, subsistence hunters and their communities.

Information on the UME assessment progress and findings can be found at:

"This situation is far beyond anyones control at this point. All we can control, is how we react. The time for some type of emtombment has long passed, as the fuel is now estimated to be 30-40 feet below the plant from researchers at Kyoto University. Everything TEPCO has tried to do to decrease the temp in reactor 2 in the past few days, including injecting boron to stop fission and dumping tons of water on the reactors is having no effect. Recent news coming out of the Fukushima plant and surrounding areas such as Xe detection and cesium levels, indicate the situation may be deteriorating quickly. Be prepared for possible out-of-control fission and subsequent large release of high radiation which will be carried directly from Japan to the west coast of the US and Canada."

Thursday, February 16, 2012

As reported in the Huffington Post, for the first time in three years, the Obama administration has not called for a major expansion in the nuclear loan guarantee program. In fact, it has called for no expansion at all.

In his Fiscal Year 2011 and Fiscal Year 2012 budget requests, fresh on the heels of explicitly promoting nuclear power in his State of the Union addresses, President Obama called for a major expansion of the nuclear loan guarantee program, to the tune of $36 billion. However, as a testament to people power over nuclear power, the nuclear lobbyists didn't get away with it -- we stopped them time and again on Capitol Hill, through tireless concerned citizen pressure! It's a huge grassroots environmental victory!

The program already had $22.5 billion, however, mostly authorized during the George W. Bush administration, snuck through on December 23, 2007 when most Americans were more tuned into holiday celebrations with family and friends, rather than the backroom wheeling and dealing by dirty energy industry lobbyists on Capitol Hill. Of that $22.5 billion already authorized, $18.5 billion was set aside for new atomic reactors, while $4 billion was set aside for new uranium enrichment facilities.

In Feb. 2010, President Obama announced the first nuclear loan guarantee himself -- $8.3 billion for two new atomic reactors at Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia. On December 30, 2011, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the Toshiba-Westinghouse AP1000 reactor design, despite lingering concerns about major safety flaws. Just this month, by a 4 to 1 vote (with NRC Chairman Jaczko dissenting), the NRC Commissioners approved the combined Construction and Operating License Application (COLA) for Vogtle Units 3 and 4.

Another leg up for Vogtle 3 & 4, this time at ratepayer expense, is Construction Work in Progress (CWIP) charges on ordinary family's electricity bills, making them pay for the reactors in advance. CWIP is illegal in most states. Yet another leg up, at federal taxpayer expense: the AP1000, along with the General Electric Hitachi ESBWR (so-called "Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor") has benefitted from U.S. Department of Energy "Nuclear Power 2010" research and development 50/50 cost sharing...

Thursday, February 9, 2012

NRC affirms earlier decision that "there are no environmental or safety reasons not to approve" the Combined Operating License for the Vogtle units, plans to issue the license tomorrow

By a 4 to 1 vote, the Commissioners of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) today approved the combined Construction and Operating License Application (COLA) of Southern Nuclear Company, paving the way for two 1,100 megawatt-electric Toshiba-Westinghouse "Advanced Passive" AP1000s to be built at the Vogtle nuclear power plant near Augusta, Georgia. NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko cast the sole "no" vote, while Commissioners Kristine Svinicki, George Apostolakis, William Magwood IV, and William Ostendorff voted in favor. Chairman Jaczko had previously cast the sole dissenting votes against such controversial proposals as: the 20 year license extension at the Oyster Creek, NJ GE BWR Mark I, the oldest operating reactor in the U.S. and identical in design to Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4; and the Private Fuel Storage, LLC high-level radioactive waste "parking lot dump" targeted at the tiny Skull Valley Goshutes Indian Reservation in Utah. Recently, Beyond Nuclear's Linda Gunter pointed out that Chairman Jaczko, although not perfect, shows concern for safety that sets him apart from the other four NRC Commissioners.

Beyond Nuclear responded to the Vogtle Units 3 and 4 NRC approval with a media statement (below), pointing out that a NRC license does not ensure project success. Read more, including updates, at our "New Reactors" section...

Media Statement by Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear
regarding U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval
of two new atomic reactors at Vogtle, Georgia

An NRC license does not guarantee ultimate project success. Atomic reactors have been NRC licensed and then nearly, or even entirely, constructed, and still blocked from operating.

Two reactors at Midland, Michigan were almost completely constructed when watchdogs proved they were sinking into the ground like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. They were then cancelled, at a loss of billions of dollars.

Nuclear power plants in Marble Hill and Bailey, Indiana that were under construction were cancelled when the Citizens Action Coalition proved in court that the nuclear utilities’ ‘Construction Work in Progress’ charges on electricity bills had been illegal, forcing the return of hundreds of millions of dollars to ratepayers.

A nuclear power plant at Shoreham, New York, was entirely constructed, but then prevented from operating because of the impossibility of mass evacuation during an accident. Again, billions of dollars were wasted.

If Vogtle 3 and 4 default on their loan repayments, it'll be 15 times worse than the Solyndra debacle. U.S. taxpayers would be on the hook for $8.3 billion due to the federal nuclear loan guarantees that President Obama awarded to the nuclear utilities proposing Vogtle 3 and 4. The nuclear utilities have no skin in the game, representing a tremendous moral hazard.

And if eventually fired up, radiological risks for residents downwind and downstream of Vogtle nuclear power plant will be added to the financial risks for American taxpayers. As shown at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan, an accident at the Vogtle site could render all four atomic reactors unusable, not to mention the off-site radioactive catastrophe.

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs
No. 12-013 February 9, 2012

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has concluded its mandatory hearing on Southern Nuclear Operating Company’s (SNC) application for two Combined Licenses (COL) at the Vogtle site in Georgia. In a 4-1 vote, the Commission found the staff’s review adequate to make the necessary regulatory safety and environmental findings, clearing the way for the NRC’s Office of New Reactors to issue the COLs...

Bloomberg: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved Southern Co.’s (SO) plan for the first licenses to build reactors in more than 30 years, with the chairman dissenting because he said there hasn’t been a commitment to implement safety upgrades after Japan’s 2011 disaster.

The split vote mars the start of a new atomic era as Southern builds the first U.S. nuclear reactor from a standardized design that promises to speed construction and reduce risks of runaway costs that plagued nuclear development during the 1970s and 1980s.

“I cannot support these licenses as if Fukushima never happened,” Chairman Gregory Jaczko said after the 4-1 vote today at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Maryland.

Jaczko said he couldn’t support the licenses without a binding agreement that Atlanta-based Southern and its partners would operate the new reactors with safety enhancements meant to prevent the partial meltdowns that occurred at Fukushima.

Scott Burnell, an NRC spokesman, says the agency plans to issue the license tomorrow. Southern can begin work immediately on the nuclear portion of the project...

“The NRC abdicated its duty to protect public health and safety just to make construction faster and cheaper for the nuclear industry,” said Representative Edward Markey of Massachusetts and the senior Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee.

“Rather than ushering in the so-called nuclear renaissance, today’s vote demonstrates that the NRC is still stuck in the nuclear safety Dark Ages,” Markey said in an e- mail.

While the NRC has received applications for 28 new reactors since 2007, Southern’s units are among five on track to be built this decade. The NRC in coming weeks may vote on Scana Corp. (SCG)’s application to build two reactors at an existing plant near Columbia, South Carolina. The Tennessee Valley Authority (3015A) plans to complete by 2014 a reactor it stopped building in 1988...

NRC License for New Vogtle Reactors to be Opposed
9 Groups Contend That NRC Is Failing to Fully Consider Fukushima Lessons Before Issuing a Final License to Construct and Operate Two New Nuclear Reactors

WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 8, 2012) - With the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) expected to consider as early as Thursday whether to issue the final license for two new reactors at the site of the currently operating Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia, nine national, state and regional groups will ask the NRC to delay its decision until the groups can file a challenge in federal court.

In the major legal challenge that will be filed within a matter of days, the organizations will maintain that the NRC is violating federal law by issuing the license without considering the important lessons of the catastrophic Fukushima accident in Japan regarding ways the Vogtle operation should be modified to protect public safety and the environment. They will ask federal judges to order the NRC to prepare a new environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed Vogtle reactors that explains how cooling systems for the reactors and spent fuel storage pools will be upgraded to protect against earthquakes, flooding and prolonged loss of electric power to the site. According to the groups, the EIS should also detail how emergency equipment and plans for the nuclear plant will be revised to account for accidents affecting multiple reactors on the Vogtle site, as happened at Fukushima.

As part of the action, the organizations will also challenge the validity of the Westinghouse-Toshiba AP1000 design, on which the new Vogtle reactors are based...

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

We're getting a little tired hearing nuclear industry lobbyists and pro-nuclear politicians allege that environmentalists are now supporting nuclear power as a means of addressing the climate crisis. We know that's not true, and we're sure you do too. In fact, using nuclear power would be counterproductive at reducing carbon emissions. As Amory Lovins of Rocky Mountain Institute points out, "every dollar invested in nuclear expansion will worsen climate change by buying less solution per dollar..."

The simple statement below will be sent to the media and politicians whenever they misstate the facts. We hope you and your organization will join us and sign on in support here.

"We do not support construction of new nuclear reactors as a means of addressing the climate crisis. Available renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies are faster, cheaper, safer and cleaner strategies for reducing greenhouse emissions than nuclear power."

notes from NRC 2/6/12:
Note this meeting is not to make a final decision on the Combined Operating License for the Vogtle units, but to affirm the decision of the earlier mandatory hearing that there are no environmental or safety reasons not to approve the COL.

However: I would also note that once the Commission affirms the hearing findings, the staff is authorized to issue the COL. We are not certain at this point how long that will take.

Your tax dollars at work - The U.S. Energy Department in February 2010 conditionally approved an $8.3 billion loan guarantee to help the company build the two reactors.

Westinghouse Electric Company LLC is a nuclear power company, offering a wide range of nuclear products and services to utilities throughout the world, including nuclear fuel, service and maintenance, instrumentation and control and advanced nuclear plant designs. Owned and operated by the Toshiba Group, Westinghouse's world headquarters is located in Cranberry Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States.

"NOW COME the AP1000 Oversight Group, the North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network (NC WARN) and Friends of the Earth (collectively the “Oversight Group”) with a petition for the Commission to require the resolution of design issues with the Westinghouse-Toshiba AP1000 reactor prior to the certification of the AP1000 reactor design and operating procedures. This petition is supported by the attached report, “Fukushima and the AP1000,” by Mr. Gundersen, chief engineer of Fairewinds Associates, and the previous filings by the Oversight Group in the rulemaking docket on the AP1000 certification, NRC-2010-131, and direct filings with the Commission...."

February 02, 2012
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a vote for Feb. 9 on Southern Co.’s application for the first construction permit to build nuclear reactors in more than 30 years.

The NRC’s announcement, posted today on the agency’s website, is required seven days before a public meeting. The Nuclear Energy Institute expects the application to be approved, Marvin Fertel, chief executive officer of the Washington-based industry group, said Jan. 18 at a conference in Washington.

“The commissioners have the tools they need to issue” the license, Steve Higginbottom, a Southern spokesman, said in an e- mail.

Southern is planning to build two reactors at its Vogtle power plant, about 26 miles (42 kilometers) southeast of Augusta, Georgia. The Atlanta-based company said the first unit would be in operation by 2016 with the second reactor working a year later. Construction will cost about $14 billion.

The NRC also is considering a license for Scana Corp. of Cayce, South Carolina, to build two reactors at an existing plant, as the agency weighs new safety rules for the U.S. nuclear-power industry after Japan’s disaster last year...

Thursday, February 2, 2012

San Francisco — Friends of the Earth called the radioactive release of steam today from the San Onofre nuclear plant near San Diego a sharp reminder that a Fukushima could happen here.

The organization has called on California Governor Jerry Brown to develop a plan for dependable, clean energy that will allow the San Onofre and Diablo Canyon nuclear reactors to be shut down.

“The recent leak of radioactive steam at the San Onofre nuclear plant is a grim reminder of the fact that what happened in Japan last spring could happen in California,” said Friends of the Earth’s climate and energy director, Damon Moglen. “Both reactors at San Onofre are down yet households’ lights are still on. This undercuts the claim that those reactors are essential for reliable power supply.”

California’s two nuclear plants, at San Onofre and Diablo Canyon, are of a similar age and design to the Fukushima plant involved in the radioactive disaster in Japan. They sit near major earthquake faults, directly on the Pacific sea coast. Millions of Californians live within the California reactors’ 50-mile danger zone — the radius established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as unsafe during the Fukushima disaster.

“The question of whether these 30-year-old reactors plants should be allowed to continue beyond their 40 year design lifetime should be answered by an action plan to construct reliable, clean facilities to replace them,” Moglen said. “We call on the California government to require utility owners to develop such a plan and implement it as a matter of urgency.”

The reactors at San Onofre have been shut down unexpectedly twice over the past half year, and the NRC has found a laundry list of safety deficiencies at the reactors.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

want to help? - find your closest nuke plant(s), look up the type and status of the reactor(s) and/or other facilites; and find out who the owners & operators are. then we can talk about some organizing and actions! - who is already working on the nuclear issue in your area? - what next?

The nuclear industry is all atwitter (in the ancient sense of the word) at the possibility that an American utility may soon receive permission to build the first new nuclear plants in more than 30 years.

These plants may get built, but their construction is not a sign of a real “nuclear renaissance.” Private investors remain as uninterested in investing in nuclear power as they have been for decades, frightened away by the massive cost overruns that caused them to stop funding new nuclear plants in the late 1970s, well before the accident at Three Mile Island . (It’s all too common for nuclear promoters to cite TMI as the cause of the collapse of the nuclear industry. But the collapse was already well underway before the accident. For the industry, pointing to the accident as the turning point is actually a way for the industry to hide the economic collapse that soaring construction costs had already caused.)

So why is the giant utility Southern Company preparing to build two more plants (Vogtle 3 and Vogtle 4) next to two operating nuclear plants, Vogtle 1 and Vogtle 2? (The dangers of clustering nuclear plants closely together is one of the lessons from last year’s meltdowns at Fukushima that the American nuclear industry and its regulators are ignoring. Communities with existing nuclear plants are much less resistant to the construction of additional plants, making siting a much easier process than building on a new site.)

The answer to Southern Co.’s decision is simple: $8.3 billion in taxpayer money, in the form of federal loan guarantees created through the Energy Policy Act of 2005. These loan guarantees are only the latest form of nuclear socialism.

To read more about the nuclear industry’s failure to wean itself from federal subsidies for more than 60 years, check out these two excerpts from Nukespeak’s Chapter 23, “The Industry That Couldn’t Learn,” which are available on the Alternet news site and in the latest issue of the Canadian online journal Coldtype (visit nukespeak page for links).

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Einstein said,
"The splitting
of the atom
changed everything
save man's mode
of thinking;
thus we drift towards
unparalleled catastrophe."
He also said,
"Nuclear power is a hell of a way
to boil water!"

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